Holly Bowling delivered the latest installment of her Wilderness Sessions series on Thursday, which saw her deliver an hour-long rendition of the Grateful Dead‘s “Terrapin Station” movement. The Ghost Light keyboardist and accomplished solo musician went live from 11,000 feet high in Breckenridge, CO for the third of five stops on leg two of the tour.
In a pre-stream travel summary, Bowling relayed the latest leg of her and her husband/cameraman Jeffrey‘s adventures across the United States. This particular performance came following her first in-person concert in six months, which was a first-ever collaboration with Paul Hoffman (Greensky Bluegrass) for the Dine From Out There series at The Greenbriar Inn in Boulder on October 4th.
Related: Holly Bowling Finds A Change Of Scenery With The ‘Wilderness Sessions’ [Interview]
Things heat up quickly high in the Colorado mountains as Bowling kicks off the stream with some marathon runs up and down the keys to open the “Terrapin Station” movement. After those frenetic opening notes, things turn as serene as the landscape as she moves into the “Lady With A Fan” segment. Given the instrumental—and highly improvised—nature of this performance, it can often times be easy to get lost in the soundscapes and forget just where one is in the instrumental epic. Before long, however, Bowling lights a musical lantern and guides us back to civilization with familiar passages.
While the stream was grounded in the “Terrapin Station” movement, Bowling still took some time to dive deep into improvisation. Between added percussive effects and her layering of piano notes, the stream seemed hardly solo at all. In the end, she always found her way back to the opus that bears that name of the Dead’s 1977 album.
Watch Holly Bowling jam out “Terrapin Station” for over an hour on the latest edition of the Wilderness Sessions.
Holly Bowling — Wilderness Sessions — Breckenridge, CO — 11/5/20
[Video: Holly Bowling]